DRUG GROW HOUSES COST PUBLIC MILLIONS: REPORT

Marijuana operations cost the public more than $100 million a year and
growing, according to Ontario's chiefs of police.

A report drafted by the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police
estimated clandestine drug production labs cost Ontarians as much as
$260 million from 2000 to 2003 and $100 million in 2002 alone.

"There's no way to specifically define or say exactly how much grow
ops have cost our economy, but we can estimate and do our best to
project the cost and we have found it is a very significant amount,"
said Joe Couto, association director of government relations and
communications.

Entitled, Green Tide: A report on the devastating effects of Marihuana Grow
Ops in Ontario, the report claims as much as 85 per cent of the financial
losses stem from the huge amount of electricity grow house operators steal.

Police estimate there are 15,000 grow ops across the province,
potentially producing more than 500,000 kilograms of marijuana and
generating as much as $5 billion in revenue every year.

Approximately 45 per cent of grow ops raided by police are found to be
stealing electricity.

Distributors estimate each was ripping off between $1,500 and $2,000
worth of electricity every month, meaning the cost of stolen
electricity can be estimated as high as $13.5 million every month.

That cost is directly passed on to electricity consumers.

Markham Hydro disconnected electrical service from 191 grow op
dwellings that stole $1.3 million in electricity in 2002 and it was
estimated approximately 450 grow ops in Markham stole $3.1 million
worth of electricity that year.

And, in the first seven months of 2003, Hydro Vaughan estimated nearly
70 grow ops ripped off almost $500,000 worth of electricity.

"Energy costs are the major bulk of it," Mr. Couto said. "And those
costs are passed right on to the energy company's customers. But we
all pay for it when this type of illegal act is engaged in. The costs
are passed right on to Ontario families and people paying the bills."

The bill for administration and repair costs for each discovered grow
op is another $3,500.

Markham Hydro estimated in 2002, each of its customers had $50 added
to their bill to cover the total.

But the report said it's more than just energy costs with which the
public is being saddled.

Grow ops are more likely to be involved in costly fires -- an
estimated 4 per cent of grow op dwellings go up in flames versus .09
per cent of all the homes across the province, driving up insurance
costs.

Plus, the OPP estimated each grow home costs about $8,500 to
investigate and dismantle, leaving taxpayers to pick up staggering law
enforcement bills.

York Regional Police drugs and vice Det. Don Cardwell said OPP figures
may even be a bit low, considering the local force is spending more on
marijuana grow investigations every year.

"That's sort of a ballpark figure, but it's difficult to determine,"
he said. "There are many variables and labour costs. These days, we're
taking a lot longer to investigate them, maybe four or five days on
average and at least half a day to dismantle. The costs add up. We
have 10 officers working full time."

In York Region alone, 170 clandestine pot labs were raided by police
in 2002 amounting to about $1.45 million in estimated law enforcement
costs, using the OPP estimate.

Last year, the number of raids increased to 173 and an estimated cost
of $1.47 million.

Up to mid-August this year, 93 grows were busted adding up to $790,500
in estimated costs.

"There's a big misconception out there that this is all simple
possession and who really cares. But organized crime is involved, much
of what's grown here isn't for use here in this market and the costs
to the general public are huge," Det. Cardwell said.

Not worked in to the Green Tide report's economic equation are the
costs of incarcerating those convicted of indoor marijuana cultivation
because the specific charge for the crime includes production of other
drugs, indoor and out, making it a hard number to pinpoint.

The current and future impact on cross-border trade is also difficult
to determine but increasingly important considering a large amount of
the marijuana grown in Ontario homes is shipped to the U.S., Mr. Couto
said.

"The important thing is it's all money that could be used for
education and health, textbooks and MRI machines, things for the
greater public good," he said. "The growers are essentially taking
money out of every taxpayers pocket."